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This car caught fire Tuesday after veering off the road on 17 Mile Road. Photo by Wayne Nicholls

Driver escapes wreck, car fire without injury

Aug 1, 2012 - By Christina George, Staff Writer

Officials say a woman involved in a vehicle fire near Ethete escaped the fiery crash without injuries.

"The car was in the ditch fully engulfed in flames when we got there, but she got out of it," said Lander Rural Fire Department Capt. Dalton Sanders.

According to the Fremont County Sheriff's Office dispatch log, at 10:48 a.m. Tuesday, first responders were called to No. 331 17 Mile Road for a one-vehicle crash. The crash location was roughly 14 miles west from where the road branches off to Arapahoe and Ethete.

The woman, who was the sole occupant, was westbound toward Ethete when for unknown reasons she veered off the roadway and into a grassy ditch, catching the grass and a nearby utility pole on fire.

Sanders said the fire burned roughly a quarter-acre of grass. There was a residence approximately 30 yards from the crash site that was not damaged.

"The structure was never really threatened. There was a road between it and the car," he added.

Sanders said although fire crews were on scene for about 45 minutes, the two-lane roadway remained open for traffic.

The woman was in a four-door sedan, but Sanders said the specific make and model are unknown as the car was charred beyond recognition.

"The car is a total loss," he said.

Lander Rural and Fort Washakie fire departments responded to the accident. Emergency medical technicians were on scene as a precaution in case a firefighter was injured.